Re: [IPk] Bolus for alcohol?

Well, Ritchie, you must be a Dublin medical student since the ageless 'how
can I booze better on a pump?' question came so soon in your life on a pump!
I'm not sure whether to be proud of you or not, but as someone with a little
experience in this area, the answer is I don't know!
Everyone is different, the wisdom is that alcohol lowers bg's, but the sugar
content of beers raises them. Low alcohol beers probably raise your bg more,
and certainly need the approach you use, while low sugar beers blow your
brains out!! When I got diabetes my dad helpfully bought some Holsten Pils,
because 'more of the sugar is turned to alcohol' That was their ad, so it
was believed to be a 'diet' beer.
The effect was tremendous, and I wasn't going to argue. You certainly
wouldn't need extra insulin for stuff like that. My old friend Arthur
Guinness, on the other hand, widely known as 'a square meal in a round
glass' or 'Vitamin G' tends more towards the CHO end of the alcohol/CHO
balance! Your approach is probably quite sensible in that setting.
Your own response to a pint of your favourite can be measured, and you
probably should do this. In other words, like any new situation, test your
way through it. Avoiding serious highs is very valid, but don't forget that
being picked up with a few drinks in the middle of a serious hypo is a very
nasty predicament, and our law enforcement officers are not well-equipped to
distinguish. It's surprising how few of our friends are still around at 4
am, and this is a situation worth avoiding.
I'm almost 40, yet I still wake up some Saturday mornings still vowing never
to touch the stuff again. I used to blame my sore head on the effects of
beer on my bg, but since starting on the pump, the bg is usually 5, so it
really was the drink all along.
Overall, for me I have never taken extra insulin with alcohol, and it has
worked out OK. But we're all different......
Tony
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